Posted 2010-01-27, evaluated by the judges panel


Katie's OCR debut! And it's OCR01979 - the year I was born, and also a pretty good Smashing Pumpkins song! Ms. Monobrow (who doesn't actually have one, as we verified with 100% certainty at M8) writes:

"This is a song for the Summoning of Spirits album from Tales of Symphonia. I worked on this song because, well, out of the 50+ songs worked on in this project, for some reason, even years and years and years and years and years after the SoS' start, no one else claimed these tracks even though you probably hear them more than any track throughout the game (it's the goddamn dungeon music).

Anyway, this remix is pretty straight forward, although I thought the source material IMO was kind of awkward to work with. But, like the originals, it grew on me, as I hope this song does with whoever listens to it. Oh yeah, and I don't get sole credit, it goes as follows, I think I worked this out...

  • Sebastian - was a way cool dude like always, and played live cello for me throughout the song.
  • Starla - was a sweetheart and contributed her lovely voice for a choir part I wrote in the middle of the song, because I really really suck at singing, and she sure don't.
  • Ari - at the last minute, was full of awesome and reworked over my old drums with his stuff and added some flair to them etc.... At the time I thought I had about two days to finish the song (thanks Kyle ;-o), so thanks to him for whipping up those drums as fast as he did, aside from some technical problems."

Drums in particular are fresh and give Katie's arrangement a distinct production quality, and of course any time you add real cello and real LadyVoice, it's good stuff. I'm gonna be a little lazy here and extensively quote from OA - both because I've got a big HDR blister at the moment AND because I think he summed things up well:

"One of my favorite tracks from the SoS project, i'm happy to see it hit the panel. Drums I thought were great, much more interesting than the somewhat boring snare rolls or super basic beat from the originals; though I wish that early on an element rose up to their intensity. For the first section they seem overly dominant. Once the cello comes in, however, it completely clicks; fantastic performance and recording, and everything supports it. The piano is a bit rigid, but it plays such a small part in the overall scheme of things that I don't see it being an issue.I can hear Starla if I listen really close, but i think she could have been brought up a bit more. At least it's in a breakdown section where she first appears.

Arrangement is a great blend of the 2 sources; it's cool how you've picked the best of each official arrangement and further expanded on it. It has some very nice moments and it's very ear catching. Nice work everyone, a group effort that really is more than the sum of its parts."

The pacing reminds me of the score to Requiem for a Dream, and the way the harpsichord keeps time gives everything a deliberate-but-suspenseful feel. Really interesting blend of elements, and an arrangement that definitely makes the best of them - congrats to Katie & co. for putting together one of many great tracks on SoS!

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
avatar
Crulex
on 2012-07-23 15:59:04

Man, I really dig the soft but beat-filled intro, and that cello is wonderful. I gotta say it, that cello was my favorite part of this one. It's like a beautiful package made straight for Symphonia. Starla has an amazing voice, of course, and it was a great addition here. Star-studded ReMix and an incredible debut. Very cool.

avatar
frubam
on 2010-09-13 08:40:31

If it were possible, I would make sweet tender love to this song. It's truly a brilliant piece from the original. I can feel the emotional impact in the beats, and the flow is just wonderful. The cello made me wet my pants. Better go get another pair in case you make another piece :-P.

avatar
xamgis
on 2010-02-11 18:16:40

This is one of my favorite tracks from the SoS album, glad to see it going up on the site.

avatar
jintoreedwine
on 2010-02-09 13:08:57

This song is great. I was happy to see that it was posted! I listen to it all the time :) .

avatar
Kureejii Lea
on 2010-02-04 04:31:32

I'm glad to see this finally posted; it uses the original as a foundation and builds atop it wonderfully. The cello was SO worth the wait; it's just sexy. I like all the subtle details and variations throughout; the drums are energetic in their way and there's a lot to focus your attention on without it being overwhelming. I really like the dropoff at the end; it seems like a completely appropriate ending. Awesome stuff.

avatar
Monobrow
on 2010-02-01 01:21:24

Bahamut is probably thinking about my bonus track for the FFIV Project.

Also thanks fro the comments guys! I really appreciate the feedback.

I agree the vocals could have been louder, I had turned them up already twice actually in two previous versions... But I didn't have enough time when I thought the song was due to go through it once more and tweak all the automations with volume... And I liked how it sounded subtle anyway. It is a song where I was just... so done with it by that point haha.

Sorry to those that wanted them louder though!

avatar
Villainelle
on 2010-01-31 19:44:12

Transporting. Everyone's contributions shine through, though the cello ends up stealing the show.

avatar
Liontamer
on 2010-01-31 16:38:33
This is a pretty nice song - too bad it wasn't in the original project.

Not a writeup reader, I take it. :lol:

avatar
KyleJCrb
on 2010-01-31 15:18:51
This is a pretty nice song - too bad it wasn't in the original project.

Err... What?

avatar
Bahamut
on 2010-01-31 14:39:30

This is a pretty nice song - too bad it wasn't in the original project.

It has a nice atmosphere to it, and yet keeps things flowing with the drums. I didn't really hear much in the way of vocals, so perhaps that should've been used a bit more, but even with the lack of hearing much in that front, the song develops pretty nicely throughout.

avatar
KyleJCrb
on 2010-01-30 03:18:36

I'd have to go out on a limb and say this is probably one of the most standout tracks from SoS. It's the one track from the album that I'd point to for absolutely anyone to try, no matter what kind of music they're into. Love it.

avatar
Red Shadow
on 2010-01-30 01:50:51

mono has good ideas that i listen to more than once

avatar
Emunator
on 2010-01-29 11:18:52

42's "breath of fresh air" connection is entirely accurate, I really like what's been done with this track from all angles. It's very airy and fluid but extremely peaceful at the same time due to the instrument choices.

For a long time after Summoning of Spirits I was calling this my favorite remix on the site, and I think it's still up there in my top 5. The cello really captivates my attention and is really just plain beautiful. You couldn't have done anything even close to that great with sequenced cello so I'm glad you opted to find a live performer! :-D

Brilliant work from all sides, this is one of those songs I can't get tired of listening to.

avatar
yosefu
on 2010-01-29 08:15:48

This is really a amazing track!

avatar
DJ Pili
on 2010-01-29 03:34:39

I especially love the cello; it captivated me.

Sources Arranged (2 Songs)


Primary Game:
Tales of Symphonia (Namco , 2004, GCN)
Music by Daisuke Suzuki,Motoi Sakuraba,Shinji Tamura,Takeshi Arai
Songs:
"Search a seal ~Sylvarant~"
"Search a seal ~Tethe Alla~"

Tags (3)


Genre:
Mood:
Instrumentation:
Cello,Synth
Additional:
Origin > Collaboration

File Information


Name:
Tales_of_Symphonia_Altar_Perception_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
8,732,513 bytes
MD5:
9ed7b80e1490cc2747a4bc37f6260bb8
Bitrate:
230Kbps
Duration:
4:59

Promotion

8-bit Jazz Heroes - Press Start
View All

Latest Albums

View All

Latest ReMixes